Woman arrested, police still searching for 2 suspects after 3 stranger attacks in Vancouver on same day - CBC
Screengrabs from video shared by the police show the suspect in Thursday's second stranger attack, left, which happened in East Vancouver; and augmented footage of the suspect in the third incident, right, which took place downtown around 6 p.m. PT. (Vancouver Police Department)Social SharingPolice in Vancouver have arrested one woman and are still searching for two other suspects after three separate stranger attacks happened in different areas of the city on Thursday.
"In all three of these incidents the victims did nothing wrong," said Const. Megan Lui with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).
The first attack happened shortly after 6 a.m. PT Thursday at Victory Square in the Downtown Eastside, police said.
A release from the VPD said a 73-year-old woman was waiting in line for a recycling cup program when a woman punched her in the eye, pushed her to the ground and stole one of her bags containing recyclable cups before fleeing.
On Friday, a 33-year-old woman was arrested in connection with this incident and has been released with a future court appearance, police said.
Hours after the first attack, around noon PT Thursday, a 44-year-old man was assaulted near Commercial Drive and Adanac Street in East Vancouver, police say.
The VPD release says the man was talking on his phone when he was approached by another man who made racist remarks. The stranger then elbowed him in the chin and punched and kicked him. Lui said the assault ended when construction workers nearby intervened.
The suspect is described as a dark-skinned man in his 40s, approximately five feet, seven inches tall, with a slim build. He was wearing a grey dress shirt, tan pants, white shoes and a green cross-body bag.
The third attack Thursday happened just after 6 p.m. PT, when a 33-year-old man was suddenly struck on the back while walking downtown near Burrard and West Georgia, police said.
There was a brief exchange of words before the suspect fled.
The suspect is described as a Black man, approximately five feet, nine inches tall, with short black hair and a black beard. He was wearing a green winter jacket and carrying a black backpack.
Suspect arrested after unprovoked stranger attacks in Surrey, B.C.
"It’s not normal to have stranger assaults," said Lui.
"No one deserves to be assaulted when they’re walking, going to dinner, lining up for something, talking on the phone."
Lui says people who find themselves in a similar situation should try to make as much noise as possible and call 911 as soon as possible.
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed any of the assaults or has CCTV footage to contact the VPD at 604-717-3321.
Michelle Gomez is a writer and reporter at CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at michelle.gomez@cbc.ca.
